Molinaro has taken nearly $60,000 from individuals and businesses that were awarded government contracts to as Dutchess County Executive
Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro, who’s now running for Congress in New York’s 19th Congressional district, has only been in the race for a few weeks and he’s already applying a corrupt pay-to-play scheme to boost his political ambitions. As County Executive, Molinaro has been repeatedly accused of corruption and enriching family members during bidding processes for government contracts.
According to Q3 filings with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), of the $350,000 Molinaro raised since announcing his candidacy on September 21, nearly $60,000 of that money is from contractors that have had business before Dutchess County while Molinaro served as its Executive. This past quarter, Molinaro received over $5,000 from the Page family and moved Dutchess County offices into buildings owned by the Page’s realty firm, HGP Realty, despite not being the lowest bid on the contract. The Pages and HGP Realty have donated tens of thousands of dollars to Molinaro’s campaigns in the past.
| Donor to Marc For Us | Amount Given to Marc For Us | Associated Entity Receiving Dutchess County Contract | Time of Contract |
| Kimberley Williams | $5,800.00 | Williams Lumber | 2018 or prior |
| Nicholas Clemente | $5,800.00 | Bonded Concrete | 2021 |
| John Peckham | $5,800.00 | Peckham Industries/Peckham Materials Corp | 2021 and 2018 or prior |
| Don Williams | $5,000.00 | Williams Lumber | 2018 or prior |
| Peckham Industries, Inc. Federal PAC | $5,000.00 | Peckham Industries/Peckham Materials Corp | 2021 and 2018 or prior |
| Jason Page | $2,900.00 | Page Park Associates/HGP Realty Corp | 2018 or prior |
| Alfred Torreggiani | $2,900.00 | Key Construction | 2018 or prior |
| Jean Kearney | $2,900.00 | Kearney Realty and Development | 2018 or prior |
| Ken Kearney | $2,900.00 | Kearney Realty and Development | 2018 or prior |
| Jeffrey Senft | $2,500.00 | S&O Construction Services | 2018 or prior |
| Michael McCormack | $2,000.00 | Liscum McCormack VanVoorhis Architects. | 2018 or prior |
| Wayne Nussbickel | $2,000.00 | N&S Supply | 2018 or prior |
| Emil Panichi | $2,000.00 | Royal Carting Service Co. | 2021 and 2018 or prior |
| William Page | $1,450.00 | Page Park Associates/HGP Realty Corp | 2018 or prior |
| Helen Page | $1,450.00 | Page Park Associates/HGP Realty Corp | 2018 or prior |
| Michael Arnoff | $1,000.00 | Arnoff Moving and Storage | 2018 or prior |
| Giuseppe Lepore | $1,000.00 | LCS Companies of New York | 2018 or prior |
| Susan Doyle | $1,000.00 | Absolute Auctions & Realty, Inc. | 2021 |
| David Petrovits | $1,000.00 | Randart Realty/Blacktop Maintenance/Briggs Station/ Route 82 Sand & Gravel | 2018 or prior |
| William McGahay | $1,000.00 | Park Strategies | 2018 or prior |
| Douglas McHoul | $1,000.00 | McHoul Funeral Home | 2018 or prior |
| Stewart Petrovits | $1,000.00 | Recycling Crushing Technology, Inc. | 2021 |
| Steven Tinkelman | $1,000.00 | Tinkelman Architecture | 2018 or prior |
| Richard Chazen | $500.00 | The Chazen Companies | 2018 or prior |
“Marc Molinaro is as corrupt as they get,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “For too long, he has leveraged his capacity as County Executive to hand out lucrative government contracts to businesses and individuals while receiving campaign contributions and enriching his family. There’s a detailed and troubling pattern of Molinaro using his political position to benefit big money donors instead of everyday New Yorkers. As he continues that pattern in his congressional run, we will continue to hold him accountable, because families in the 19th district have a right to know how he operates.”
This scheme of enriching donors in exchange for campaign cash is not new for Molinaro. During his 2018 bid for Governor of New York, Molinaro was accused of a corrupt pay-to-play scheme when 67 companies that had received $87 million in county contracts and tax breaks gave him $330,000 in campaign cash. The accusations, which were made by Molinaro’s colleagues in the Dutchess County Legislature, focused on a $6,800 contribution by an architectural firm that received $70,000 in tax breaks from the county and paid $26,500 to Molinaro’s wife for marketing work. The legislators also exposed Molinaro for receiving $134,000 between 2011-2018 from 20 firms outside of Dutchess County that were awarded nearly $34 million in county contracts.
Molinaro further showed he was putting his big donors and political interests first when he opposed a county-level proposal to ban contributions to political candidates from individuals and businesses pursuing lucrative county contracts, claiming it would be unfair to incumbents.
End Citizens United is a grassroots-funded anti-corruption group that works to end our rigged political system by electing reform champions, passing meaningful legislative reforms to get big money out of politics and increase transparency, and elevating these issues in the national conversation. ECU has more than four million members nationwide, including 18,500 in NY-19.
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